People often use lack of available, convenient food as an excuse for eating unhealthy. Say, you are stuck in the airport in oh…Salt Lake City…for several hours and you need something to eat. Well, you might have a grilled tofu sandwich, a green salad, a Gnu bar, Naked green juice, organic granola, raw almonds OR a burger and fries. Funny, all this healthy food available and the vast majority in the food section are guzzling sodas, fries, pastries and beer (okay, I can understand the beer – you need something to numb your layover).

Perhaps we need to face that it isn’t the lack of availability, but that we just don’t want to make the right choices. The healthy options here don’t cost more than the unhealthy ones. Is a question of entitlement? Boredom? Entertainment? With obesity rates rising like crazy, we had better figure out why we don’t want to make the healthy choices. I don’t think it’s a question here of not knowing – no one thinks a glazed donut is health food. It’s high time we look at what we want out of life – instant gratification of a week-old $3 brownie in the airport or a lifetime of quality health?

I will admit there are times where healthy food is scarce. I was recently at a catered event where the only vegetable offered among the “loaded” mac n cheese, sliders, hot dogs and chicken wings was fried corn on the cob. Being a vegan aside, not one healthy food option was available aside from the rather anemic watermelon slices. Yes it was a special event – but why does special have to equate with ridiculously unhealthy?

Sure, food is everywhere – clothing and furniture stores now offer snacks – but that doesn’t mean you have to eat every time you see it. I do believe food manufacturers are greatly responsible for our obesity problem, but so are we – each individual. Some may not be fully aware of the consequences of choices – but some of us are just too lazy or stressed or tired to say no to temptation. We better figure out why, though, because we headed down a slippery slope of fatness that will cost us and our children billions of dollars and years of quality life.